The four canines, or fangs, of a domestic cat. The largest two teeth of the top and bottom rows of teeth. (from here)

It is an unfortunate fact of life. Some people are always trying to run other people’s lives.

Devious and envious people want what belongs to others.

“Religious” people insist that everyone else do as they do.

Foolish people want everyone else to pay for the cost of their mistakes.

Busybodies just get a high out of making other people do “something”.

And so it goes.

In our era, we have once again perverted our government so that the devious, the “religious”, the foolish, and busybodies can boss everyone else (Is there anyone else left? 😉 ) around. Instead of protecting each others rights, too many of us want to use our government to deprive others of the right to discriminate as those “other people” think appropriate. The problem is that when we do that we also lose the right to discriminate as we each think appropriate.

Discrimination sounds like a bad word, but it isn’t. Long ago our ancestors learned to discriminate against animals with long, sharp teeth. That is something we still do. Remember that old fairy tale.

“But Grandmother! What big ears you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood as she edged closer to the bed.

“The better to eat you with, my dear,” roared the wolf and he leapt out of the bed and began to chase the little girl. (from here)

Based upon what she observed about “Grandmother”, Little Red Riding Hood developed a profile, and it soon became quite clear to her that the wolf’s big teeth portended a short future.

Stop and think. You see an animal in a cage. It is a slinky, beautiful beast with soft, shiny, fur. As you approach, its tail sinks low. Its ears flatten. It bars long, sharp fangs. It growls. Are you going to stick your hand in its cage and pet it?

Freedom High School senior Fatmata Mansaray says she’s glad she decided to speak up about the challenges she and a friend faced at school when they wore their Muslim head coverings, or hijabs.

“Honestly, I didn’t do it for me,” said Mansaray, an 18-year-old senior. “Hajah and I decided we needed to stand up for them.”

By “them,” Mansaray is referring to younger Muslim girls enrolled in Prince William County public schools, as well as other schools in the region, who might face fewer challenges at school when they decide to wear their hijabs because the girls told their story.

Prince William County school officials released a statement offering regrets Friday after Freedom High School administrators were found to have required Mansaray and Hajah Bah, a fellow Freedom student and close family friend, to carry notes from their parents as “proof” they wore their head scarves for religious reasons. (continued here)

When we read stories like this, we should consider the irony. Are the young ladies involved in this story terrible people? No. Was it right for school administrators to make them remove their Muslim head coverings? Do we want our government discriminating against them? No. Should we discriminate Muslims? Well, that depends.

Our schools are public institutions. Our schools are run by the government. When this country was founded, those who framed our government decided to trust it with as little power as possible. After the Civil War, latter generations decided the government should not be allow to discriminate against anyone based upon race, sex, or creed. Therefore, when school administrators — civil servants — tell Muslim students to remove their head coverings, which are worn for religious reasons, they have to have a reason that clearly outweighs the religious considerations. They don’t.

What about the rest of us, however? In our lives apart from government, as private citizens and business people, do we have a right to be concerned when we see overt evidence of what people believe? Of course, we do.

Islam has a history that goes back to the 7th Century. Muslims, including the Founder of Islam, have a tradition of cutting off the heads of infidels. Just as it would be stupid to ignore the barred teeth of an enraged animal and stick your hand in its cage, it is absurd to pretend that Islam just consists of pretty, well spoken teenage girls wearing colorful head coverings. What people believe makes a difference. If we read the Koran and we see how Muslims around the world are behaving — note the terrorism and savagery — then we have every right to be apprehensive when we see young women wearing hijabs. We have every right to disapprove and be alarmed.

The problem here is that our government runs our schools. Because we cannot trust it to react appropriately, we don’t want our government react forcefully against anyone except lawbreakers. Nevertheless, as individuals, we each have a vote. That is, we each have the right to determine how we spend our time and money. We each have the right to express our approval and our disapproval. We don’t have the right to harass Muslims, but we do have the right to wonder why anyone would want to follow the teachings of Mohamed, that so-call prophet.

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12 thoughts on “DEPRIVED OF THE RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE”

Well said,Tom. I really like this. You just can’t go wrong with a story about Little Red Riding Hood.

Modern people tend to perceive “rights” as always a good thing, freedom. We seldom pay attention to how rights are actually all about restricting someone else’s behavior. Just because something is labeled a “right” doesn’t make it automatically good. Discrimination is also thought to be “bad,” but that too depends on what we are discriminating against. Being an American I love freedom, but even “freedom” is a bit of a misnomer. I have freedom because the rights of others have been fought against, because we have discriminated, because we have deprived others of the right to rule over us.

Excellent point! Protecting each others rights REQUIRES us to discriminate between good and bad behavior.

The issues then are:
1. What sort of behavior REQUIRES us to discriminate against it?
2. Who decides what sort of behavior REQUIRES us to discriminate against it?
3. How do we discriminate against bad behavior?

For the most part we each decide for ourselves what sort of behavior we will discriminate against and how we will do it. Only when the evil of the behavior is clear do we need the government to act.

Good post, Tom. I don’t have kids in school anymore, but everyday there’s a news story about how far things have gone off track in things determined by school boards and ultimately government. It’s crazy.

When I read an article like the one about the girls in hijabs, I always wonder about the context of the story. It makes good sense to have a dress policy in schools (especially ones prone to gang violence and I looked this school up…definitely prone to gangs and violence). But with the current climate, it doesn’t make sense for the administration to demand the students to remove (permissible if worn for religious reasons) hijabs. The only reason that would make sense is if they typically DIDN’T wear them, but did for some reason on this day. The article mentions Ramadan so there’s probably a clue there. Perhaps it was the first day and they only wore them during Ramadan (or perhaps they changed their mind mid-Ramadan, hard to say). Otherwise the behavior makes no sense. The school would’ve been accustomed to seeing these students wearing their hijabs on a daily basis (and wouldn’t expect them to keep a note…it would’ve been on file).
Per discrimination, humans are patter recognizers. I get a class with an Asian professor and…barely pass, the next time I get a class with an Asian professor I will suspect it might be hard. If this happens a half dozen times I will eventually assume it’s going to be a challenge. That’s a mild example that makes the point.
With violence the association would be far more ingrained. It’s survival, after all.

School officials don’t have an easy way to defend themselves. Generally, government policies and legal requirements force them to remain silent. Hence, these stories tend to be one-sided, even if the news media did not have a predisposition to present only one side.

Excellent Tom, as always—and how did you get such a great picture of the cat’s wide open yawn….?
My poor rescue cat is a snaggle tooth having suffered a traumatic injury as a kitten–hence our rescuing him…..
Even any causal reading of the Koran and it is very apparent that Islam is not opposed to violence based on one’s choice to simply not believe—
so yes, what big teeth they apparently have……

You think I took the picture? I wish. I am such an unskilled photographer that my wife snatched my camera and won’t let me have it back.
😉

Actually, I am kidding. She just liked the camera, but she still won’t let me use it, and we don’t have a cat. I just found the photo on Wikipedia (link in the caption), and you are right. That is quite a photo. Since I can generally find what i want online, I leave the artistry to experts like yourself.

Islam? Well, that is not funny. The Koran does speak of peace, but the latter verses speak of violence, and the latter verses rule. What is unfortunate about the Koran is that the book is not in chronological order. That makes it necessary to consult guides which estimate when each sura (see => http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sura?s=t) was written.

and my wording in my first comment was poorly worded—any reading of the Koran… and it is apparent and glaringly obvious that violence is very much encouraged for those who in any way are in opposition to following the letter of the Islamic law…last I checked the Bible never condoned beating woman or killing non believers…..

“I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.” Ronald Reagan.